Deep tank lighting

[ccopelin]

I am setting up the deepest tank that I have ever set up. Its 4'x3'x5' tall. There will be no real light loving corals, maybe random shrooms or leathers. A 2~3' live rock pile in the middle. For healthy live rock and coralline growth, what would you guys suggest for lighting? Higher kelvin lighting penetrates deeper correct? I want suggestions so I can start looking. I am open to LED to but that might get super pricey for me but then I can do away with the chiller.
Thanks!

 

[dzfish17]

Wow, thats a tall tank. From my calculations its around 450g. I'm tagging along because I'm going to need some better lighting for my 46" tank.

 

[poolkeeper1]

You will need at least 400Watt Metal halides without keeping SPS, If you wanted to do SPS i would then suggest 1,000 Watt M/H in the 20K range on both choices.
The 3W led's that are avaiable today are not going to penetrate deep enough for you needs IMO so M/H are the way to go with a nice big Chiller due to the heat they will cause your tank to run very warm.
Bill

 

[RotaryGeek]

Why go so deep? Whats the benifits of it? I would go with like 24". I have a 180 and i can barely get to the sand with my whole arm in the tank. Plenty of depth for anything i need.

 

[dzfish17]

Why go so deep? Whats the benifits of it? I would go with like 24". I have a 180 and i can barely get to the sand with my whole arm in the tank. Plenty of depth for anything i need.

Not to be sarcastic but the OP wasnt asking for opinions about tank heights. He was asking about lighting options for a tall tank. Some people like tall tanks and have their reasons for having one.

 

[tkeracer619]

You will need at least 400Watt Metal halides without keeping SPS, If you wanted to do SPS i would then suggest 1,000 Watt M/H in the 20K range on both choices.
The 3W led's that are avaiable today are not going to penetrate deep enough for you needs IMO so M/H are the way to go with a nice big Chiller due to the heat they will cause your tank to run very warm.
Bill

^^this

You can always keep sps up top with the 400s. Make sure to put them in good reflectors.

 

[username in use]

Well, since the op said there won't be any light loving corals, we can approach this a little differently.

I say a few of these. http://www.ecoxotic.com/cannon-led-pendants.html

They are designed for very deep tanks and are actually already in use in some public aquariums to light very deep tanks, in the neighborhood of 13ft.

 

[ccopelin]

Wow I like those cannon pendent but i think I'd need 2 per tank, and there are 2 of these tanks. And for those wondering about these dimensions, these tanks where pre-existing in a building my friend bought and I just so happen to build custom acrylics and setup tanks for a living. Weird for me to because the tallest i have ever built was 32".

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I've got a 3' deep 400 G tank that I've been running for years now. I've been running 2 X 400 W DE MH about 6" off the water in the 12 to 14K range. They are on a light mover and move back and forth across a 7' long tank. Light is good even on the bottom of the tank but I'm not sure it will go to 5'.

One other choice if you can do it is to go with Solar tubes thru the celing to the roof and use natural sunlight. Then you can keep whatever you want. I'm in the process of ditching my Mh for four 10" solar tubes to light a 7' long 3' deep tank. It will also cut back on the electric bill. As for heat, it all depends on where you live and how you set the tank up. I do not have a chiller. I have a window in back of my tank that I leave open. If it gets really hot, I'll open the upper cabinet and turn on the celing fans in the room. No heat issues here.

I had a 4' tall tank at one time but never set it up. Sold it off. But I was looking at using T5's or so to light it and make it moer of a FOWLR.

If you want to keep corals in the tank, just put them higher up on the rock work. Or just go with a FOWLR and some of the larger non reef safe fish.

 

[username in use]

Wow I like those cannon pendent but i think I'd need 2 per tank, and there are 2 of these tanks. And for those wondering about these dimensions, these tanks where pre-existing in a building my friend bought and I just so happen to build custom acrylics and setup tanks for a living. Weird for me to because the tallest i have ever built was 32".

True, but you should also consider your electricity usage over the years with multiple 400-1000w bulbs over each tank.

2- 50w cannons @ .12 KWH = $4.38/month - roughly $50/year
2 - 400w halides = $35.04/month - roughly $400/year
2 - 1000w halides = $87.60/month - roughly $1000/year

Thats only for one of the tanks. If you double the numbers for 2 tanks, you would save $700 a year in electricity just from 400's to the canon's, and $1800 a year from the 1000's. They would pay for themselves in 2 to 2 1/2 years, not including bulb changes on the halides.

 

[tkeracer619]

Those LED cannons are nice but you either have white or blue. Its a yellowish 10k or beyond 20k blue.

 

[dzfish17]

I was just looking at the orphek 24" power reef fixture. Its very pricey at $849 but looks pretty good with 16k. Does anyone have any experience with these?

 

[ccopelin]

So a few of you agree that fish and healthy LR would be good with 400watt MH 16~20k? Maybe a couple corals at the top of the LR stack? What a good site to shop for solar tubes?

 

[ColaAddict]

This is gonna be one expensive tank to light. But I also like the orphek, don't know if it will penetrate 5 feet of tank. You might wanna contact them.